Yankee says it failed to conduct additional radiation monitoring

(Host)
Vermont Yankee says it failed to conduct additional radiation monitoring of its
spent fuel storage as required by the state.

The
additional monitoring was supposed to begin in the spring of 2008, and was
required as part of a state license that allows Yankee to store spent fuel in
steel and concrete casks.

But
Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said officials discovered recently that they had
failed to set up the monitoring protocol.

(Smith) "And we just did not catch
until recently when we self-identified that this section of the memorandum of
understanding - specifically monitoring of radiation limits and temperature -
we had not implemented."

(Host)
Smith said that radiation measurements taken at the plant's boundary show that
public health and safety are protected.

But
he said Yankee officials need to go through all the state permits and make sure
they are following all the requirements.

(Smith) "We have them logged but
obviously we need them in a better matrix, to make sure we're capturing when a
report is due, when are things due, have we done them, do we need to do them
again. We have to formalize our process to make sure we're following these
board orders to make sure we're in compliance and not missing anything.

(Host) Smith said the company has now started the new
radiation monitoring protocol.